Reservoir and method of its construction.



J. LOWE, SR.

RESERVOIR AND METHOD 0F ITS CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION F|L Eo IAN.29. m5.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Z.'- Iz I Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

l. LOWE,l Sn.

RESERVOIR AND METHOD 0F ITSCIONSTHUC'I'ION.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.29,. |915.

- Patented N0v.'2,1915.

Jews@ ower D six/ius TENT FC JESSE Lowe, sn., or BEARDSTOWN, ILLINOIS.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, Jnssn Low, Sr., a citizen of the United States, residing atl Beardstown, in the county of Cass and State of Illinois, have invented certain nevi7 and yuseful Improvements in Reservoirs and Methods of Their Construction, of which the following is a specification.

This-'invention relatesparticularly to the method of construction, as well as to the constructionv and arrangement, of reservoirs intendedfor receiving and holdingl Water for use in' houses and buildings of rural and farming communities, factories, railroad watering stations, stock feeding yards, towns, cities, in water power development and in mines, .and .has for its purpose the provision of a simple, effective and economical reservoir.

Other features and objects of the invention will be set forth in the following speci.- fication taken with the accompanying \draw\ ings, in which,-

+`igure 1 is a plan 'View of a reservoir constructed in accordance with my'invention as viewed from above Fig. 2is-an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of 4the arrow; Fig. 3 is a-horizontal sectional View through one form of piling which'may be use@` in 4constructing my reservoir; Fig. 4 is an en-l larged vertical, sectional,` v1ew .through\the valley, taken on the limiet-Def Fig.i 1, looking in the directiogrofthe arrows, certain features of my construction being Shown in elevation; Fig. '5 is a hoizontaLsectional view showing another form of piling which may be used 1n constructing my Improved A reservoir: and, Fig.` 6 is an enlarged, transverse, sectional view through 1 the Mrater screen of my construction. l` In the art to which this invention relates, it is highly desirableto'obtain the desired supply of water as free as possible from surface and other impurities. The invention is peculiarly applicable to rural communities and water supplies needed in isolated localities. those generally speaking in the great farming States. the mountainous or hilly. regions and along the line of railroads be` tween large supply stations. where the topographical arrangeluent is such that water usually flows alongr by way of shallow vall Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led January 29, 1915. Serial No. 5,031.

. Patented Nov. 2, i915.

leys and through gravel beds or other waterbearlng strata located underground some distance beloav the surface. lation of this water flowing through such 'strata .or deposits is very desirableLand to provide a reservoir in which it may be received and stored, and be at the same time protected from the surface water, is the .principal object of this invention.

In constructing a reservoir in accordance with my invention, I first preferably seek a suitable location in ya valley 1(),'located betweenthe corresponding elevations 11. F ig. 1 shows this valley in a purely technical manner for purposes ofl illustration, and it is not intended in any way as a limitation as tothe us'e'of my improvements in any location in which they may be found particularly applicable.

After the desired location and sizeof reservoirhave. been determined upon, a series ofA sheet piling 12 is driven into the ground tothe desired depth, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, to inclose a space 13 of the required dimensions. 'I also drive two series of sheet iling, extending outwardly across the valey from .each side of the inclosing sheet piling 12,ito form wing walls 14 which are preferably continuous with that wall of the inclosure 13 whichis farther down the valley, as shown in Figs. 1 and i. This piling is driven through the upper stratum of earth 15, through thegravel or other water-bear- The accumu- I ing stratum 16, and some distance fartherv into the lower stratum of clay, rock, or loam 17.

The piling used in inc losing the space 13 and in constructing the wing Walls 14 is of a sheet metal form welll known, preferably the form of piling shown particularly in Fig. 5. This piling consists of a series of separate piles 18a and 18b which are arranged alternately, and which interlock withl each other along their vertical edges when driven. Each pile 18n vis of channel form, and adjacent each flange of the pile and projecting outwardly from the web of the pile in the same direction as the flange, is a Z--bar 18c which is riveted or otherwise secured to the The other 1 form, and is so arranged that when driven Y gravel o r other` water-bearing strata.

the anges thereof project into the spaces 18 formed between the jaws along the lat` eral edges of the piles 18a. Vith this construction it will be seen that as the piles are driven the earth will enter the unoccupied piles are driven the enlarged flanges 19b arev adapted toenter the spaces 19 between the jaws 19a, and the earth will enter the unoccupied portions of these spaces to tightly call( the joints, as inthe use of the other form of piling above described. It will be understood that. other suitable forms of piling may be used, if desired.

rThe inclosing sheet piling 12, as aboue described, is preferably driven into the ground in the shape of a rectangle' extending downwardly through the 'gravel or water-bearing deposit, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings, this gravel or water-bearingdeposit being found usually at a depth varying from ten to eighty feet below the surface of the ground. The inclosing walls of the sheet piling 12 are provided on the side l2a thereof, and also preferably at the ends 12b, which walls .are directed toward* -the area from which the supply of water comes, with suitable apertures located opposite to or at the same depth as the deposits of gravel or other waterbearing strata, in order to permit the entrance -of the Ywater which normally flows down the vallej through said strata, into the inclo's'ed area 13. The direction of flow of water is indicated in- Fig. 1 by the numeral 20, in Fig. by the numeral 20a, and in Fig. 4 by the numerals 2Ob and 20. These apertures which are cut through the piling are indicated generally in-the drawings by the nu` meral 21, and. it will be seenthat they are cut in the walls ofthe linclosure 13, which intercept the free flow of water through tile s shown in the drawings, the alternate piles are provided with apertures21 in such number as may be necessary to meet the demands of the existing conditions, but each pile can be similarly treated and these are located in any desired. number, preferably following the elevation of the water-bearing strata i across the ends`and upper inlet side of the reservoir. c rlhis alternation of the piling to form the apertures 21 is preferably done before the piling is driveninto 'the ground,

although it may be tlone later, that is, after the piles are driven and after the excavating operation hereinafter referred to.

After finishing the construction above described, the earth in the space 13, within the inclosing walls of sheet-piling 12, is excavated to'a depth reaching slightly below the gravel or water-bearing strata, and to a considerably greater depth if the 'requirements for storage can be better served there- The bottom of the reservoir thus formed within the piling 12 is then preferably provided with a floor of concrete 22,

which Hoor resists the lateral pressure on l the lower portions of the piling as well as the upward pressure from below, while at the `same time facilitating the cleaning of vthe reservoir and also excluding impurities from mixing with the water, which, as-will be well understood, flows 1n through the apertures 21.

To facilitate' the excavation of the'earth within the space 12, and to exclude water from flowing in through the apertures 21V clude water from the reservoir at any time when inspection or repairs to the reservoir may be necessary, and they may `also be employed to partially stop'the flow of water into the reservoir, if such stoppage of the flow is desired,

' sist of a plurality of bell-shaped perforations or apertures 2G, which are drilled or cut directly through the webs of the piles i and arranged with their larger extremities toward the inner side of the reservoir. It

will b'e seen that these 4bell-shaped apertures 26 serve to transform a portion of the piles into the 'form of a screen. and from the naprevents said perforations from becoming clogged by finely divided material which may tend to pass therethrough, and which might otherwise clog the openings. In some instances, relatively large openings or apertures may be cut through the piling and screens placed over the openings, the screens having perfora'tio'ns 26 extending therethrough', of tl1 e. same ,fori'nas the perfora- A tions v'vhiclil Il' preferably provide directly through .the web ofthe piling. Fig. (5 showsI a sectional view of a pile with the perforations 26 therethrough, or of ajscreen pro.- vided with said perforations.

The collection of .water within the reservoir is facilitated by the construction and use of the 'wing Walls 14: which extend to the desired distance acrossthe valley and substantially prevent the continuedv lion' of,

water down the valley through the waterbearing strata'.- T he water being thus prevented from llowin v down the valley by the wing walls` 14:, an also by the lower wall of the reservoir, Hows. into my improved reservoir through theopening 21, and since` it vcannot escape from the reservoir after entering said openings, it wells up under the inlluence of the head-"of Water up the valley' and thus tends to lill the reservoir, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and Ll, where the water is' indicated by the numeral'27.

The wing walls I4, which' are formed of piling driven to a safe penetration below the water-bearing strata of the valley, are c onstruc'ted with the upper ends of the piling cut off at such depth below the surface ofthe ground as will permit the free How of any surface streams and prevent the soaking f of the surface' soil .of the valleyY above the Wingwalls in suchl manner as to destroy its usefulness for lagricultural or other purposes, while atfthe same time operating to eli'ectually dam the flow of water inorder to cause the-saine to well up inthe reservoir,

To4 prevent the entrance of impurities,

' such as surface Water, into the reservoir throughthe top opening thereof, .and also to provide the reservoir with what;l may be termed a spillway for permitting the escape i gyacy. 1.

- Y ile 'Ihave-shown and described a pai'- of' the overflow from within the reservoir,in those installations where it may be desired,

. I provide the inclosing sheet 'piling 12 of such length that the upper ends ofthe ,piles are left projecting a short distance 'above the surface of the ground Q8, as shown at 29, and a .levee '30 is formed all around the outside of the inclosing wall of piling, all of which v will bewell understood from the foregoing description taken withv the drawings and appreciated bythose skilled in this particular art. It will be seen'that this levee 30 prevents the entrance of surface water or other impurities into the' reservoir, andl it the same time permits an undue accumulation '-of Water within the reservoir tospill over the upper edges' thereof and flow down theticular method of -constructii'ig a reservoir according to my invention and av particular form of construction, it will be .understood .that these improvements-may bev embodied in various different forms'without departing from invention as defined by the appended claims. y

I claim 1. .The method of constructing a reservoir which consists in driving an inclosingsheet .piling into the earth around the desired location, then excavating the earth from the inclosure to a depth short of the bottoni of the piling to forni a reservoir', then cutting away a portion of the-piling near thebottoni of the inlet side of the reservoir, and finally inserting a screen over the aperture formed by cutting away said portion of the piling.

i In reservoirs ofthe class described, the' vcombination of an inclosing sheetj piling driven into the ground to the desired depth aziidtlirough a gravel bed, said piling being provided with a. cut-away lportion near the lower portion of the inlet side of said piling opposite the bed of gravel, and a screen covering for said cut-away portion.

3. In reservoirs of the class described, the i combination of an iiiclosing sheet piling f driven into the ground the desired depth and through a gra-vel bed and provided witha cut-away portion near the lower-portion of thereof opposite said gravel'hed with a series of perforations extending tlierethrough, said perforatioiis' increasing in cross-section toward the interior of sad"res ervoir.

' 5. In reservoirs of the class described, the

combination of an inclosing sheet piling driven into the groundto the desired depth andfthro-ugh a water-bearing stratum, wing walls formed. by driving sheet' piling .into the ground l outwardly of said inclosingwpiling .anddownwardly through said water-bearing stratum, su id incl'osing sheet piling being proyided on the4 inlet side thereof opposite said water-bearing stratum with a plurality of perfor-ations to form a screen.

6. In reservoirs of the 4class described, the combination of interlocking sheet piling' driven into the ground in the desired loca.- tion in a valley to form an inclosure from which the-'earth may be excavated, said pilingbeing driven through a water-bearing stratum, and wing walls extending from said inclosuie across said valley, said wing walls being formed bv interlocking sheet piling driven dou-'invardly through said unter-hearing strat-uni, said inclosing` sheet piling being provided with a screen on the inlet side thereof opposite said water-bearing stratum. y

7. In reservoirs ofthe class described, the combination of interlocking sheet piling driven into the ground to the ydesired depth and through a Water-bearing stratum to 4forni an inclosure from which the earth muy be excavated, the joints between adjacent piles being substantially Water-tight. and

screens in said piling near the lower portion l? of the inlet side thereof opposite said waterbearing stratum.

In testimony whereof,` I have subscribed my name.

JESSE LOVE, SR. Witnesses:

`W. G. SMITH,

GLEN E. SMITH.

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Washington, D. C. v 

